via I can do better than Mugabe – NewsDay Zimbabwe July 10, 2014 by Vince Musewe
Our focus must now be on how do we become the leaders and ensure that our skills are applied to develop our country.
I think it’s time we Zimbabweans began to create other leadership alternatives and not wait for political parties to be our sole source of the future leadership of Zimbabwe.
We have, unfortunately, limited the pool from which we can draw those who can create a better future for our country by looking only to politicians to provide the leadership.
Well, it must be clear to all that they have failed and will continue to do so because of personal interests.
I continue to attend many discussions on solutions for Zimbabwe and all the time, I end up convinced that as long as we sit and complain or discuss solutions, we will never really create the circumstances we want.
We have to now decide that we do not want to be led by average men who happen to be in politics and so we must step up and increase the competition.
We all agree what is wrong with Zimbabwe, but more important, we all know what it takes to revive this economy. We have everything we need to make that happen. Our focus must now be how do we become the leaders and ensure that our skills are applied to develop our country.
In my opinion, Zanu PF is everything we do not need simply because they have demonstrated to us that they are unable to take Zimbabwe forward firstly because of their culture of management and secondly because of the political baggage which they carry.
We cannot expect these individuals to create a modern, vibrant democracy in Zimbabwe.
I have also recently relooked at the Medium-Term Economic Plan tabled during the Government of National Unity in 2010 and I must say, it is a comprehensive and well-thought out document that far surpasses Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation or any other blueprints.
So, as far as I am concerned, we already have a solution that is ready to be applied in reviving the economy. There is no shortage of ideas there.
What we need now to do as responsible citizens is to change the politics of the country by getting involved and to be the change that we want to see. Gone are the times where we can be content.
The recent rant by President Robert Mugabe on the land issue must be a clear indication to all that he must go. We can no longer afford to be taken back as a country at the whim of an individual who has clearly failed to lead Zimbabwe.
Even his team of ministers has cost this country so much and we must not allow them to continue to plunder and underdevelop our country. We must now all say enough is enough.
In my opinion, Zimbabwe needs a very simple five-point plan: restore the rule of law through credible institutions, maximise revenue collection and minimise costs, allocate resources better and ensure accountability, encourage free enterprise without government interference in business and attract new investment aggressively.
If a sitting President can only focus on these issues our economy would be back on the recovery path. Zimbabwe can no longer afford village mentality at State House.
The challenge we face is to have politicians who are not loyal to their political parties, but to Zimbabwe first and I am afraid that the current political parties we have will not serve our interests first.
We need independent thinkers who are not in positions because of their past or party loyalty, we need people with exposure outside Zimbabwe and we need younger leaders to now come to the fore.
In my view, this can simply be achieved through us coming together as independent democrats who do not have any political party baggage and are well educated and understand how the economy works.
Our politics can no longer be about the struggle, but must now be about effective resource mobilisation, allocation and project management. These are the leaders we need to take Zimbabwe forward.
These kinds of people are definitely not in government or in politics yet but are waiting for change which, unfortunately, can only come through them. It is time to step up and be counted.
My challenge is therefore for all progressive Zimbabweans who care about the country to step up so we can establish a new group of individuals, who do not see politics as a platform for personal enrichment but rather to make a difference, serve the people and develop our country.
This means we need a new President of Zimbabwe who is not drawn from the current political stock.
We also need new informed and skilled members of parliament. We need professionals and not party stalwarts to run Zimbabwe.
We must begin to think outside the current paradigm if we are to do things differently. We must be courageous just as those who went to the bush for the country and not for personal gain.
I, for one, am certainly sure that I can do a better job than Mugabe has done and invite all democrats who love Zimbabwe not to be constrained by this political party mentality that is not serving our needs. We must take responsibility now.
The choice is clear; we can sit and point fingers at Zanu PF until we get old or we can choose to be the solution to Zimbabwe’s future and actively work together to replace them at all levels of leadership.
The future is in our hands.
COMMENTS
My dog could do better than Mugabe!
My dog too
Well said Vince. This is the time. Now is the time. Don’t let the freedom train leave you on the station. Handeyi vasikana nevakomana.
Good article Vince. That is what Zimbabwe needs today. To hell with all these politicians. Let us just be ordinary good people running their own country well. We are indeed our own slaves as long as we continue to affiliate ourselves to these present day politicians.
Don’t insult the poor dogs by comparing them to zanupf and Mugabe even lifeless forms at the bottom of the ocean do better. Your dogs are more intelligent than all of zanupf -if you put your dogs out on the street they will survive without donations and endless loans.
UMlimo…..watch out for weevils my friend…Zanu worse than dog…kikikikikiki. But I think you are right, still fighting the colonialism, since 1962? 52 Years?
But I am now convinced it’s a spiritual problem and me thinks they are possessed….a whole cabinet believing that processed diesel coming from a rock! The amount of people killed and gone missing contributes.
Remember Zanu came to steal, kill and destroy…can someone prove me wrong?
Any fool can do better let alone a honest,God fearing, hard working Zimbabwean citizen.
Truly Vince I am sure you could. it will now be hard to find a worse President that our current one. He passed his sell by date in 1990. We want a God raised up leader now. Zimbo’s make bad choices.
All the Old Guard have fallen to temptation of greed, turpitude, paranoia and mammoth selfishness (including all MDC formations and ZANU PF). We cant trust thes people. The dilemma is ‘what must we do about this issue?”
Good article Vince. I believe the problem of one or maybe two individuals standing up to lead change is that they will be shot – literally or figuratively – quite easily by the regime. In a sense we need multiple civil society faces to stand together to precipitate change and then individuals can rise
Not if they shoot first……
there is absolutely nothing praise worth in Vince’s article. It is all hogwash meant at self praise. Well I don’t doubt that he has been through school somewhere. Indeed we all have been through school somewhere. Ever noticed that Mugabe’s first cabinet of an odd 22 ministers close on 11 held doctorates. There was for example, Dr. Zvobgo, Mtumbuka, Mazorodze, Ushe, the Mushi, Chidzeros. You mention it there were all there. The non degreed were the exception and not the norm like Kadungures and Kangai. In fact very schooled have been Mugabe’s cabinets. Indeed there have been schooled cabinets even in some parts of Africa too. What did they have to show for it? Absolutely nothing except failure and dismal failure for that matter. Yet Vince is calling for educated leaders.
Further we hear Vince singing praises of the Medium Term Plan. Like a hired gun he calls it marvellous. Then I ask the question why did it not hold if it was such brilliant plan? It only means it was crafted in the air and not on reality. A plan without proper assumptions is referred to as utopian. In any case the same MTP was put together by those whom Vince describes as having been ‘tainted’ by belonging to political parties. But all this does not exist for the utopian paper tiger called Vince. He must just roar like the dangerous ignoramus that he is.
Vince you are so right in many ways in what you have laid out. Zanu-PF as a liberation movement saved the purpose of the time. It is so true that we indeed badly need liberation vehicles and guidance led by the two liberation movements namely ZANU & ZAPU.
They lost the plot along the way. They have failed to transform from a liberation movement into an administration. They have preferred to bask in the past glory of being liberation fighters as opposed to leaders who solve today’s problems. It looks like we need another liberation struggle.
Vince you are so right in many ways in what you have laid out. Zanu-PF as a liberation movement saved the purpose of the time. It is so true that we indeed badly needed liberation vehicles and guidance led by the two liberation movements namely ZANU & ZAPU.
They lost the plot along the way. They have failed to transform from a liberation movement into an administration. They have preferred to bask in the past glory of being liberation fighters as opposed to leaders who solve today’s problems. The sad thing is that they are no longer required by the majority of this country but that does not register in their minds. It looks like we need another liberation struggle.
You’re the ignoramus mandy, the MTP failed because like all the work of the GNU was sabotged by Mugarbage, at every turn. It is a well documented fact that Mugarbage circumvented, spoiled, opposed and constantly objected to change. His actions ruined any chance of success and Zuma helped him succeed in his strategy.
You are obviously uninformed and uneducated if you think they have Doctorates, these pieces of parchment are bought from shady, Romainian, online “Universities”, surely even you know this! Anyway, what does a Doctorate do to help Govern a country – most of them are so called Doctors in subjects unrelated to running a Country.
Get your facts corrected and then come back and offer sensible comments…….
@Mandy – being educated is one thing but being decent with good values is quite another.Regrettably going back to the colonial times people were excluded on the basis of colour & education resulting in many focusing purely on getting an education at all costs. These same people abandoned their families who had sacrificed much to get them the prized education. Many went into politics and we subsequently suffered because of their lack of values etc. There are however educated people with decency & values in this country & in the diaspora that can serve their people.
Exactly! That is what mandy is saying. Vince in his article says there is need for educated people like himself to lead the country to glory. Mandy ably poses the question about education being a quality for leadership which was the postulation of Vince. I cite from Vince above the following: “In my view, this can simply be achieved through us coming together as independent democrats who do not have any political party baggage and are well educated and understand how the economy works.” This citation taken from Vince is calling for educated people to take over. What is the measure of that education if it is not having degrees. Our friend swagman goes into overdrive to try and hide this clear chink in the armour of the article by Vince. May be because he calls himself swagman he must be high on drugs. It is clear that Vince provides self serving criticism and never stops to reflect if he really is saying something new. He is just drunk with power hunger.
I have followed many of the article you have written Vince. I must say they are indeed thought provoking, but I am not sure if they can take us forward.
I am not sure how we can move forward without political parties or politicians. Getting into political office such as President of Zimbabwe means you are politician. And you need a political party to elect you to office and that election will happen in parliament. I know civil society has the capacity to organise outside of political parties, but to go into elections they have to be political parties.
So while we are totally disappointed by today’s politicians, we can not do without politicians. Hopefully the ones who come forward and answer your call will not turnout to be the same as today’s politicians. How are we going to organise the movement to take Zimbabwe forward?
Vince, yet again an excellent article and you are the one to be our next president, of that I have no doubt. Your generation is the one that is free from the mantle of ” we fought for and brought you freedom from those nasty oppressive, racist whites that looted everything they had” mentality. we are meant to be in perpetual debt to these war vets, their masters and hangers on.
Enough is enough and todays hardships are unbearable. that is why Mugabe ranted on in Mhangura last week, he has nothing to offer, not even a solution. He will not cede his wealth or apologies.
Mass action is the only option open to the people. Unity square should be the focal point and the occupation should be peaceful, the message should be clear, government must resign, the President must resign, an interim administration acceptable to the people be installed and international sponsored elections held. We should also revert back to the Lancaster house agreement as the basis for our constitution.
This would also mean that those ZIMBABWEAN farmers dispossessed should be invited to return and property rights honoured and the British and American Governments would be obliged to contribute to the Land reform costs. This is a must as we cannot afford to compensate these people besides they are victims of this regime and its determination to remain in power.
That would be the opening for a truly democratic society with the best leaders to come forward without fear of violence or death and would put the power back into the hands of people.
Yes Mr. Musewe thus the time. We cannot afford to sitback any longer even heading to unavoidable death.
Amazing ! 90% of those who respond use pseudonyms. And this is because they envelope themselves in fear. And so long as they fear, so long will they be oppressed. Where is the brave man, or woman who stands up and is brave and proud enough to at least use their own name?